PennDOT Tackles Latest Snow

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation was revving its fleet of salt spreaders and snow plows for Friday morning.

At the Philadelphia County maintenance office of PennDOT in Nicetown, workers were gearing up on Thursday for the anticipated blast of snow.

"We're brining all our interstates, all our secondaries, and all our expressways," said Penndot director of maintenance Nick Martino on Thursday afternoon.

Brine is a strong salt solution that dries after being sprayed on roads, leaving a thin application of salt that doesn't blow away easily.

Watch the video...

He compares the upcoming storm to the most recent hit of snow we had:

"This seems a lot different because the wind's not a factor right now.  When you have wind, that's going to bring drifting; but this storm's going to hit quick.  And you gotta remember, it's cold out," he added.  "It's been cold for a while, so what does come is going to stick."

Martino says that for the last storm, PennDOT used more than 17,000 tons of salt over a 24-hour period.

"We don't forecast to use that much salt because of the timetable," he told KYW Newsradio on Thursday afternoon.  "It looks like it's only going to be a short period.  But we are going to be using a lot of salt in the beginning to make sure we don't have any of that snow bonding to the roadways to create slippery spots."

Reported by Hadas Kuznits, KYW Newsradio; Todd Quinones, CBS 3